It’s a rather curious decision. The No. 7 he wore in Columbus is already taken by Rob Scuderi, but No. 17 — the number Carter wore in Philadelphia, which was pretty much his entire NHL career — isn’t worn by any Kings player. Since Carter and Mike Richards are getting the band back together and all, you’d think he’d want his old jersey back. But no.

It should be noted that Carter wore No. 7 during his junior days in Sault Ste. Marie, but wasn’t able to wear it in Philly because it’d been retired (for Bill Barber.)

Carter will join some select company in wearing No. 77 for Los Angeles, a list that includes Paul Coffey, Ken Belanger, Garry Unger, Rob Cowie and Rod Buskas. Rod Buskas!

And for those of you asking — no, I have no idea why Carter didn’t just wear No. 77 as a Flyer. Maybe it’s because he was young and didn’t want the high number? Don’t really know. It’s not like the number had any huge significance in Philly — Paul Coffey wore it during his 12 minutes as a Flyer, as did Adam Oates, Chris Gratton and Alexei Zhitnik.